Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
AMD 700 Series Chipsets
The AMD 700 series of chipsets were in the process of development by ATI when ATI
was absorbed into AMD in late 2006, although the first models in the series were not re-
leased until late 2007. See
Table 4.32
to compare the features of these chipsets.
The740and740GarethelastAMD(ATI)chipsetstosupportPCIeversion1.0a;allothers
in the series support PCIe version 2, which doubles the throughput of PCIe 1.x. The 740
and 740G are also the last cards with 1GTps FSB; the remainder of the series features
2.6GTps FSB.
The 760G and 780G are the first chipsets to support CrossFire Hybrid, a variation of
CrossFire which enables integrated video to work in conjunction with a PCIe x16 video
card for faster 3D rendering and gaming; the 785G, the last chipset in the series, also sup-
ports CrossFire Hybrid. The 790GX supports both CrossFire Hybrid and CrossFire X for
faster3Drenderingandgaming.The770andhighermodelsintroducedAMDOverDrive,
which enables the user to perform overclocking, memory tuning, and system monitoring
tasks from the Windows desktop without restarting the computer.
Thehigh-performance790FXisthefirstAMDchipsettosupportquadCrossFireX(upto
four PCIe video cards in x8 mode) as well as dual x16 operation.
While some members of the series can use the SB600 South Bridge, AMD introduced a
newseriesofSouthBridgechipsinthe700seriesforusewiththe700seriesNorthBridge
chips.TheSB700seriesincludessupportforSATA3Gbpsdevices,eSATAsupport,RAID
support (0, 1, 10 modes) up to twelve USB 2.0 ports, two USB 1.1 ports, and some also
include integrated Super I/O and RAID 5 support. See
Table 4.35
for details.
AMD's 800 series chipsets are designed for use with Socket AM3 processors such as the
Phenom II, Athlon II, and some models of the Sempron. In addition to supporting newer
processors, the 800 series also includes models with support for CrossFire Hybrid (880G
and 890GX), two card CrossFire X (890GX and 890FX), and up to four card CrossFire X
(890FX). All chipsets in the 800 series include PCIe 2.0 and a 2.6GTps FSB. See
Table
4.33
for details.
The 800 series also includes two new South Bridge chips, the SB810 and SB850. These
chipsetsarethefirstAMDSouthBridgechipstoeliminatesupportforthevenerablePATA
interface, but include support for up to six SATA ports with RAID support, include Gig-
abit SATA, and HD audio. The 800 series also includes two PCIe 2.0 lanes (2 x1 or 1 x2).
See
Table 4.35
for details.
